How to Get the IoT Edge for Your Business

This quick guide to IoT for businesses will give you a jumping off point to get the brain juices going and the ideas flowing.

Sam Vanhoutte

11 October 2018

There’s so much more than to IoT than smart fridges and clever watches. Forward-thinking businesses are already investing large amounts of money into this trailblazing tech because they know that this is where the future is. Read this quick guide and find out how you can start with IoT.

Dream Big, Start with Baby Steps

You know your business better than anyone, so you should be able to understand what value IoT can bring. Are you in manufacturing and want to track production waste? Are you in logistics and want a clear end to end pipeline of the transportation of goods? If your organization works with ‘things’ whether that is machinery or transportation, it’s possible to extract data from it and process that data to get valuable insights. But don’t forget to focus! Once you start looking, the possibilities are endless. Focus on one project and define exactly what results you hope to gain from it, then take it from there.

Have a Vision

Not sure how to get focus? First define the overarching business goals which the results of your IoT project should be supporting. Whether you want a deeper understanding on how employees are using your machines, or predictive analytics so that maintenance work is more effective, defining your goals before you begin helps to keep your smaller IoT projects focused.

Have a Strategic Plan

IoT is so much more than a technical facet that only your IT department need to know about. If you truly want to see IoT fly in your business, you need to make sure that C-Suite is on board. With their support and strategic vision, your business will be able to effectively use IoT in a way that saves costs, improves services, and potentially disrupt the business model.

Fail Fast, Succeed Quicker

Be prepared to learn from the initial failures of your IoT project. By “failing forward” you’ll learn faster and succeed quicker. Don’t get fixated on what your solution ‘should’ be doing, but instead be flexible and see what it can deliver. You might be very surprised by the results.

Find out if Your Business is IoT Ready

Do some early exploration and discover how ‘IoT mature’ your business is. Do you have the infrastructure in place? Do you have a great idea for a pilot project? Are you willing to invest in security? Are the leaders of your business open to the idea?

Hacker Proof Your IoT

Don’t let your Internet of Things solutions become an Internet of Threats. Strategize to keep your processes sabotage free and your customer’s data private. You never know who is watching…

Know When to Ask for Help

Does your business have the time and resources to dedicate to an in-depth new project? Do you have the experience necessary to execute an IoT project with minimal errors? Calling in an experienced partner who supports you from Proof of Concept to implementation is one way that businesses can explore IoT without wasting time and resources.